Red Wings are over the cap after signing Justin Abdelkader, but it's not a big concern

After re-signing Justin Abdelkader to a two-year contract, the Red Wings are, Mattias Ritola and Derek Meech's salaries included, about $442,000 over the NHL's salary cap, but the Wings can exceed the cap by up t0 10% until the last day of the exhibition season. As such, the Sporting News's Craig Custance's tone in addressing the Wings' cap issue seems a bit...overzealous as describes a team with half a million dollars to clear--when some teams are over the cap by $4 million or more--as having "cap woes":

August 23, The Sporting News: The Detroit Red Wings have signed forward Justin Abdelkader to a two-year deal that an NHL source tells Sporting News
is worth a total of $1.574 million. Even with a cap-friendly annual
salary cap hit of $787,000, the Red Wings now find themselves tight
against the cap.

According to CapGeek.com, the Red Wings had $862,121 in salary cap
space this season before the Abdelkader deal. Things are even tighter
now, which likely means general manager Ken Holland will have to trade
an extra forward like Patrick Eaves, Kris Draper, Darren Helm, Drew
Miller or Mattias Ritola.

That's unrealistic. Holland and the Wings' media have both suggested that Ritola or Drew Miller are on the chopping block, but Draper has a no-trade clause and there's no way in hell that the Wings will get rid of Eaves given his PK work. Eaves has a long-term future with the Wings.

The Detroit Free Press reports that the Red Wings will also
move defenseman Derek Meech at some point to clear more room under the
salary cap. Meech is slated to earn $500,000 this season.

Meech wants to play regularly and has admitted that he would welcome a move if he can't crack the roster, and the Wings will accommodate him.

The Wings' situation isn't out of the ordinary in the post-lockout II NHL. They'll move players and will restore their injury-related cap cushion. It's just not particularly worrisome on the 23rd of August. At worst, the team loses Ritola and Meech on waivers or sends one or both to Grand Rapids.

Also: MLive.com's Michael Zuidema updated his Abdelkader story with quotes from Ken Holland:

August 23, MLive.com: “I think at some point in time in [Abdelkader's] career, he can be a top-six
forward,” Holland said. “The question is can he be a top-six forward on a
playoff team? Because that’s what it’s all about.”...“He might have had a better opportunity somewhere else, but we have
plans for him,” Holland said. “We think he has the potential for a
bigger role and more responsibilities in the future.”

Holland told Zuidema that he's going to talk to Kirk Maltby this week about possibly accepting a two-way contract:

“Obviously, he loves Detroit and would love to stay here,” Holland said.
“We kind of have to work through that and see where he might fit in.”